Telford man, 29, stole from friend's house in insurance scam
A Telford man who stole from his friend's house in an insurance scam has been spared prison, with a judge warning the community order is "the harder option".
Kyle Turner, 29, from King Street, Dawley, was told by Judge Jim Tindal at Shrewsbury Crown Court that his sentence would be "as far as a community sentence can take you", and to "take the opportunity given to you".
Jane Sarginson, prosecuting, had told the court that Turner had taken items from a house at Cockshutt Road, Oakengates, on September 14 and 15, last year.
The court heard that Turner, who admitted two charges of theft and one of taking a vehicle without consent, had known the owner of the house.
On September 14 he was seen on CCTV taking a Vauxhall Corsa belonging to the owner, and with a group of other people stole a television, two iPhones, and a Samsung Galaxy phone.
The total cost of the items was estimated to be £600.
The next day he was seen returning to the home, where he took another television, a Superdry jacket, and an iPod dock. The items were valued at £450.
Sentencing, Judge Tindal said that the first theft had taken place after there was an agreement between Turner and the homeowner as part of an insurance scam.
However, he said that the second theft was "effectively a burglary" after he had become angry that the homeowner had given CCTV of the incident to the police.
Turner was given a 12-month community order, with rehabilitation requirements.
Judge Tindal said: "You are now 29 and I look at your record you have been offending by means of burglary, shoplifting, criminal damage, anti-social behaviour since 1998 - almost 20 years and you have been given a number of chances by the court to prove yourself in the community.
"Sometimes it worked okay for a while, sometimes it has not but ultimately you have always found yourself dragged back in and the answer is not difficult to find, it is drugs.
"If you have an addiction to drugs you do not really care about other people, you do not care who you hurt, you care about the next fix and what you need to do to get money for it.
"What is being proposed here actually stands the chance of breaking the cycle you are in and if you take that chance far from being the soft option it is the harder option and more important to me as better option for the community.
"It would be easy for you to sit in prison with your mates twiddling your thumbs for three months."
He added: "This is basically as far as a community sentence can take you. If you mess this up you are going to be in prison, probably again and again. Take the opportunity given to you."
